Page 54 of The Odds of Happily Ever After
“I was thinking . . . if the additional tuition is too much, let me know. I’d be happy to help.”
She sighed. “She wouldn’t accept that.”
Unconsciously, my gaze sought Luna out, finding her chatting with Lonzo by the minibar. Glancing my way, she waggled her eyebrows at me. My lips pulled up.
“So Lonzo shouldn’t worry about you, huh?”
I narrowed my eyes at Tala. “You’re making the wrong assumptions.”
“Am I?” At my silence, she said, “Look, I don’t want to interfere. I just wanted to tell you that I trust you.”
Not this conversation. Of course, she’d choose to talk about it when Luna was at the other end of the room.
“You looked out for Luna even when she annoyed you,” Tala continued. “I can’t thank you enough for that.”
For some reason, her words didn’t sit well with me. It made my . . . situation with Luna sound like a duty when it wasn’t. Not anymore. Despite our rocky start, I actually enjoyed Luna’s company. “You don’t need to thank me.”
“I will anyway because it means a lot to me. Just be careful with her, okay?”
I rubbed my nape. “Of course.” The last thing I wanted was to hurt Luna.
Squeezing my arm, Tala said, “Whenever you’re ready to talk, you know where to reach me.” Before Jason, she had never liked to talk about her emotions, but I supposed that was one of the things that changed when you were in a serious relationship.
As we walked back to the dining area, Luna gave me a questioning glance. Then Jason appeared with his teammate Miles in tow.
“Look who decided to join us,” Jason announced, slapping Miles’ shoulder.
Miles grinned and mussed his hair in return. “Couldn’t miss your last damn finals party, could I?” He embraced Tala and then spotted us. “Luna!”
My muscles tensed as he bounded toward us and caught Luna in a bear hug.
“Hey, Miles,” she said with a laugh. “Good to see you. I’m sorry about the game.”
“Yeah, well. You win some and all.” Keeping one arm around Luna, Miles held out a hand to me. “Gabe, my man. Glad you came out.”
“Miles.” I clasped his hand, and he pulled me in for a half hug. He thumped my back, and I grunted at the impact. I wasn’t a lightweight, but the man might as well have been double my size.
Still plastered to his side, Luna snickered. Jason had introduced us to Miles last summer, and he’d immediately hit it off with Luna, who considered him her favorite player. I’d never asked if they kept in touch since that party at Jason’s place but they’d met up again when Luna visited Santa Mila. Did she know he was coming? Was she interested in him?
At least she was sharing a suite with her brother. Surely, Alonzo would stand guard over her.
One look at his starry-eyed face told me I couldn’t count on that. Not when it came to Miles, who was Alonzo’s favorite player too.
What does it matter to you if Luna takes Miles to her bed? She’s a grown woman. If she wants to be with a man, it’s her choice. And Miles is practically a family friend at this point. Jason would kill him if he hurt Luna—that is, if Tala didn’t get to him first.
Or if I didn’t.
“What are you thinking about?”
I jerked at Luna’s whisper. I hadn’t realized she’d moved next to me while Miles spoke with Alonzo.
“You have a weird expression on your face,” she said. “It’s giving constipated.”
A snort escaped me. “Constipated?”
“Don’t give me that look. It’syourface.” She tilted her head to the side. “Do you play cards?”
I pressed my lips together. “You could say that.”
